Darrell Hammond, who holds the title of longest-tenured cast member in Saturday Night Live history, has a new gig at Studio 8H: Hammond is replacing legendary announcer Don Pardo as the show’s announcer. Pardo died in August at the age of 96.
According to USA Today, while Hammond did impersonate Pardo in those temporary announcing stints previously, Hammond will no longer do that now that he is the permanent replacement. Speaking to USA Today, Hammond said of the new role and former announcer that Pardo “was a lovely person. When he passed, they wanted me; it felt right for me to be the one to replace him. It’s been a very improbable life; I didn’t expect something like this, but it feels real good.”
Lorne Michaels, speaking of the change said, “It can’t be what it was, but it could sort of be in the same tradition. And it will be nice to have Darrell around. He understands the show and will probably be helpful in ways we haven’t yet figured out.”
The new season of “Saturday Night Live” kicks off on September 27th with Chris Pratt hosting and Ariana Grande as the musical guest.
Agencies/Canadajournal
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